Rolling machine



Jan. 26, 1942i A. H. LuNblus 2,309,126.

` ROLLING- MACHINE v Filed April 2, 1940 4 SheetSfSheet 1 H/.S'A Trap/V521 4 sheets-sheet 2 A. H. LUN DIUS` ROLLING MACHINE Fi 1 ed IApril 2, 1940 Jan. 26, 1943.-

/HMZW /f/SA TMR/viz Jari. 26, 1943. A. H. LUNDlUs 2,309,126

I ROLLING MACHINE Filed April 2, 1940 4 sheets-sheet s L 'l 74 60 72 l 9' 80 7 Y u Jan. 26, 1.943'. A. H. LuNDlus 2,309i126 ROLLING MACHINE 4 Filed April 2, l1.940 4 Sheets-sheet 4 NIMH Patented Jan. 26, 1943 ROLLING MACHINE Alton H. Lundius, South Orange, N. J., assigner to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware 'UNT Application April 2, 1940, Serial No. 327,389

16 Claims.

This invention relates to rolling machines and more especially to machines for operating on the ends of elongated articles to upset them. In some roller bearing applications it is considered desirable to use cylindrical rollers which have their ends rounded or convex instead of fiat. It is an object of this invention, accordingly, to pro vide improved mechanism for rounding the ends of cylindrical bearing rollers and other elongated articles.

To these ends and also to improve generally upon machines of this character, the invention consists in the various matters hereinafter described and claimed. In its broader aspects, the

invention is not necessarily limited to the specific machine selected for illustrative purposes in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view with some parts broken vaway and in section.

Fig. '2 is .a front elevation of Fig. l, some parts being broken away and in section.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vvertical section at the drive shaft.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V--V of Fig. 1 some parts being shown in ele- 'Vation.

Fig. '6 is a sectional view taken principally in the jplane of line VI-'VI of Fig. 1.

Fig. '7 is an isometric view of the strippers.

Figs. 8 and 9 are isometric views of a plunger.

Fig. 10 is an isometric view of a feed plate.

Fig. 11 is an 'isometric view of an arm.

Fig. v12 is a sectional view, greatly enlarged, of portions of the die roll and the cage, an article being indicated by broken lines.

Fig. 13 4is an isometric view of 'a portion of the cage.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the shoe.

Fig. 15 is a side view of the shoe with portions broken 'away vand in section.

Fig. 16 is an isometric View of the feed mechanisrn, with parts broken away and in section.

Fig. 17 is an isometric view of a rolled article.

Outlining rst the general operation, cylindrical rollers are fed one by one to the machine land rolled between a rotating die roll and a curved shoe, the Yrollers being gradually forced towards the axis of the die roll by the shoe and the L"die roll having formed or shaped surfaces which "engage the ends of the rollers to upset and shape them to a rounded form. The rollers are kept from cooking or getting out of alignment with 'the die roll by a rotary cage. The upsetting increases the diameter of the rollers near .the

ends but this excess material is afterwards yremoved, as by centerless grinding, thus producing cylindrical .rollers with rounded or convex ends.

The machine frame comprises a base 2 having a pair of spacedstandards 4 and 6. Thest'andard 4 has a recess receiving the outer race ring 8 of a tapered Vroller bearing 10 whose inner vrace .ring l2 .is clamped by a nut fand a washer on a drive shaft i4. Thestandard 4 has a grease 'iit- 'ting whilea bolted-on cover plate .I 6 engages and clamps the end of the race ring 8. The vother standard '6 has la recess receiving the outer race ring lil of a second tapered roller bearing 20 whose .inner race ring 2'2 'is clamped against a shoulder .on vthe shaft 14. 'The roller bearings oppose one another and the end of the race Vring i3 is engaged Aby a bolted-.on cover Aplate 24 having a grease seal J26. Spacing lrings 28 engage the two inner race rings and are each vsurrounded by a .grease seal 29.

4.A die roll is keyedto the drive shaft i4, the roll being formed in `spaced Ysections 30 clamped against an Vinterposed spacing ring 3| (Fig. `4) by screwibolts 32. The peripheries lof the sections have mating vrecesses vforming 'an article receiving space 'with tapering sides 33 (Fig. '12) leading to vcurved surfaces 33A adapted to 4engage the end faces 'of elongated `articles A 4and roll or upset the end 'portions to the desired'shape. These surfaces converge Aor taper towards the center of vthe die roll Aand are spaced apart axially of the roll. A circular cage 34 has its extended sides 35 journalled with a running fit at 36 on the adjacent spaced apart, Acylindrical ends of the sections '30. The cage also has an integral, internal '.ange or centering tongue 43'! which runs freely 'between the sections and around the spacing ring 3|. The outer periphery of the Lcage has a series of vradially open pockets or notches 38 to receive the `articles -A sideways, these notches being round at the bottom and extending partially into the centering -tongue 31. The sides of the notches are straight and terminate yat inclined cam faces 39 which, as will appear, control the introduction of the articles. At the bottom of the cage, its

Vouter and somewhat narrowed periphery has a running fit in a central groove 49 Aof la die plate or shoe 42 which has a curved upper Work engaging surface 44 interrupted only by the groove. 'The interrupted surface 44 is knurled as indicated vin Fig. 14 and engages the peripheries of the articles near the ends. As shown in Fig. 2. the shoe 42 has its bottom inclined and supported on ,a tapered gib or wedge 46 which is .adjustable endwise by 'set screws 48, thereby prothe shoe to hold the latter down.

The curved surface 44 is a smooth curve conveniently composed of a series of three merging arcs. The central arc has a radius B whose center C is in the axis of the drive shaft I4 and this arc extends from approximately 30 to the left of the vertical to a point approximately 51 to the right of the vertical. It merges at the left with an arc which has a radius E which is a little longer than B and has its center slightly above the center C. The center arc merges at the right with an arc also having a radius E but having its center slightly higher than the other two centers. The knurling extends all the way along the left hand arc and part way along the center arc. At the left and in the center of the width of the shoe, there is a small entrance arc 54 of small radius where the articles enter between the shoe and the die roll sections, this arc merging with the groove 40. The above distances and centers are given by way of illustration and not as limitations. The curved shoe affords a means to make the die roll take hold of the work with a gradually increasing pressure which stays at a maximum and then fades out as the work is discharged at the right. As the work rolls along the shoe, the shoe causes it to approach the axis of the die roll, thus pressing the ends of the work against the shaped surfaces of the die roll sections. The shoe could have a single arcuate surface eccentric to the die roll axis.

Surrounding the upper part of the die roll and the cage is a curved arm 6D which is pivoted on a shouldered stud 62 threaded in the standard 6. The arm has a lubricant port leading to a fitting 64 and its end is forked or divided as at 65. One branch has an opening 66, a portion of which is tapped to receive threads near the pilot end of a locking screw 63 whose body portion turns in y a hole in the standard 6 and is operated by a hand Wheel 18. The locking screw holds the arm in position but can be retracted to release the arm and permit raising it for access to the cage, die roll and shoe. The other branch of the forked arm 60 has an enlargement with a hole 1| in line with a tapped hole 13 in the rst branch to receive a pivot stud l2 for a trigger lever 'I4 which is urged in one direction by a coil spring 16. The lever has an inclined tooth or cam follower T8 which is hardenedand adapted to successively enter the notches 38 in the cage 34 and to be actuated by the inclined cam faces 39 on the cage as the latter rotates. This is a part of the work inserting mechanism as will appear.

The lever 'I4 carries a pivot stud 8|] for a depending bent arm 82 which is adjustably secured by a screw 84 and a cooperating screw 85 to an extension 8B on the lever. |The ann 82 has a horizontal feed ringer vor pusher 88 extending under the extension 86 and entering a groove 90 in the top of a plunger 92. The groove has an unbroken side wall 94 on one side by which the articles are stopped and located endwise when the finger 88 is retracted by the rotation of the cage. The other side wall of the plunger is cut out at S6 to allow the work to come in endwise over the top of the plunger and against the loca-ting side Wall 94 which extends substantially radially of the die roll. The'plunger 92 is urged towards the cage by a coil spring 98 but movement is limited by a stop pin |80. The spring is housed in the plunger and abuts against a wall in a guide plate |02 which has a groove |64 to guide the plunger. The guide plate is held by screws on the standards l and 6 and has its upper surface provided with a horizontal feed slot or guide |08 through which the work is fed endwise. The slot is closed at the top by a cover plate HU extending out to an enlargement H2 on the plate |02, the enlargement having a bore or hole to receive the end of a feed tube on any suitable feed mechanism through which the articles are urged end- Wise in a stream. At the right of Fig. 2, a pair of pointed strippers H3 spaced by a plate H4 are clamped against a block H5 by a clamping plate H8 having a clamping screw |20 extending through al1 of said mem-bers and into the standard 8 which lhas a groove to receive a loeating tongue |22 on the block H6. Dowel pins |24 locate the strippers on the clamping members. The strippers straddle the high part of the cage and have each a narrow face curved to conform to the die roll sections.

In operation, the articles, such as cylindrical bearing rollers having flat ends are urged by any suitable feeder through the feed slot |08, the foremost article entering endwise through the cut-out 96 in the plunger 92 and engaging its side Wall 94. This o urs as the feed finger or pusher 88 is withdrawn by the action of the tooth 'I8 and the inclined cam faces 39 on the frictionally driven cage. When the tooth 18 drops into a cage notch, the spring 16 urges the feed finger or pusher 88 forwardly against the article to push the latter sidewiseinto a cage pocket and into the mating recesses of the die roll sections 39. The article is carried downwardly by the cage and is rst rolled between the die roll and the end of the plunger 92, the latter. yielding as the article rolls by and enters the space between the die roll and the shoe. 42. The yielding plunger acts to guide the articles inside of the shoe. Here a gradually increasing pressure due to ythe diminishing space causes the ends of the articles to press against the shaped walls of the die roll sections, the articles being squeezed also against the knurled surface of the shoe which facilitates rotation rather than sliding. Once an article rolls between the die roll sections and the shoe, the cage is compelled to rot-ate positively by the translation of the articles. To insure insertion of a first roller so that operation will thereafter be automatic, the rotation of the cage can be manually assisted for a fraction of a revolution. The rolling articles cause the cage to rotate at half the speed of the die roll. The pressure on the articles increases, is then maintained and finally is relieved as the articles approach thedischarge end of the shoe. Here the strippers H3 cam the articles away from the die roll and into a suitable receptacle. The articles come out as cylinders with enlarged ends which are substantially spherical segments as indicated ln Fig. 17. When the excess diametrical material is removed as by grinding, the articles become cylindrical with rounded ends.

I claim:

l. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll having shaped surfaces spaced apart axially of the roll and sloping in opposite directions to engage the end faces of elongated arti- `cles, a rotary cage `between the surfaces and the pockets, a lever supporting the pusher and` having a cam follower, the cage having cam surfaces to actuate the follower, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the die roll, andmeans for rotatingv the roll and the cage.

2. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, a rotary cage having article-receiving pockets open radially, means for rotating the roll and the cage, a pivoted lever having a pusher movable radially of the cage to push the articles sideways into the radially open pockets, and the pockets having means for actuating the lever.

3. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, a rotary cage having article receiving pockets open radially, means for rotating the roll and the cage, a pusher for pushing the articles radially into the pockets, and a yielding plunger between the pusher and the shoe to guide the article inside of the shoe.

4. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, means for rotating the roll, a plunger at one end of the shoe, means for urging the plunger substantially radially towards the roll, and means for introducing elongated rollers between the die`roll and the plunger.

5. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, means for rotating the roll, a plunger at one end of the shoe, means for urging the plunger towards the roll, the plunger having a side wall to locate elongated articles endwise, and a pusher for moving the articles sideways towards the roll.

6. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, means for rotating the roll, a member having a groove with side wall extending substantially radially of the roll to locate elongated articles endwise, and a pusher operating in the groove for pushing the articles sideways towards the roll.

'7. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, means for rotating the roll, a guide plate having means to guide elongated articles endwise substantially parallel to the axis of the roll, a yieldable plunger having a side wall to locate the articles endwise, and a pusher adapted to move lengthwies of the plunger to push the articles sidewise towards the roll.

8. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, a curved arm overlying another portion of the periphery of the roll, a pusher having a pivotal mounting on the arm for urging elongated articles towards the roll, and the arm having a pivot to provide for lifting said pusher and exposing the roll.

9. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll, a shoe having a curved surface along the periphery of the roll, a curved arm overlying another portion of the periphery of the roll, a yieldable plunger between the shoe and the end of the arm, a pusher on the arm, and the arm having a pivot to provide for swinging the pusher away from the plunger.

10. -In a machine fof the character indicated, a

`Adie roll, a shoe havin-g a curved surface along the periphery vof the roll, means for introducingA elongated articles between' the roll and the shoe at one end of the latter, a cage having pockets for the articles to guide them between the roll and the shoe, and strippers at the other end of the shoe and straddling a portion of the -cage for removing the articles.

11. Ina machine Aof the character indicated,

a die roll having shaped surfaces spaced apart and converging towards the center of the die roll to engage the end portions of elongated rollers, a shoe opposed to the die roll and having a curved surface which gradually approaches the periphery of the die roll, the curved surface having a central groove, a rotary cage extending between the shaped surfaces and having pockets for spacing the rollers, the outer periphery of the cage entering the groove in the shoe, and means for rotating the die roll.

12. In a machine of the character indicated, a die roll having a work receiving space in its periphery, the space having oppositely facing surfaces converging towards the center of the roll to engage the ends of an elongated article and upset the same, the die roll also having spaced apart peripheral surfaces of smaller diameter than the converging surfaces to engage the periphery of the article, a cage turning freely on the peripheral surfaces and having a centering tongue projecting between them, the cage also having article receiving pockets open radially, a shoe curved about the roll, and means for rotating the roll.

13. In a machine for rounding the ends of a cylindrircal article by an upsetting operation, a die roll, a shoe having a concave article engaging surface gradually approaching the roll periphery in one direction, the roll having shaped article upsetting surfaces spaced apart axially a distance shorter than the length of the article, said surfaces converging steeply towards the axis of the roll for forcible upsetting contact with the corners at the end faces of the article, and means for advancing the article loetween the shoe and the die roll to force said corners down the converging surfaces to thereby upset and round the ends of the article.

14. In a machine for rounding the ends of elongated articles by an upsetting operation, a rotary die roll having shaped article upsetting surfaces spaced apart axially of the roll a shorter distance than the length of the article, said surfaces converging steeply towards the axis of the roll for forcible upsetting contact with the corners at the end faces of the article, a rotary cage between the converging surfaces and having article pockets, and a shoe having a concaved article engaging surface gradually approaching the roll periphery in one direction for forcing said corner down the converging surfaces to upset the ends of the article as the article is rollingly advanced between the roll and the shoe.

15. In a machine for rounding the ends of a cylindrical article by an upsetting operation, a die roll, a shoe having a concave article engaging surface gradually approaching the roll periphery in one direction, the roll having shaped Varticle upsetting surfaces spaced apart axially a distance shorter than the length of the article, said surfaces converging steeply towards the axis of the roll for forcible upsetting contact with the corners at the end faces of the article, a rotary cage between the converging surfaces and in one direction, the roll having a curved upsetting surface sloping steeply towards the axis of the roll for forcible upsetting contact with the corner at the end face of the article, a co-operating opposing surface on the die roll to take the endwise reaction, and means for rotating the roll to advance the article between the shoe and the die roll and thereby force said corner down the sloping surface to upset and round the end ALTON H. LUNDIUS. 

